KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan men's tennis team welcomes Ball State, Butler, DePaul Gonzaga and Marquette to Sorensen Courts for the annual WMU/Jack Vredevelt Invitational on Friday and Saturday. 

Admission is free. 

The action gets started at 9 a.m. on both days. The Broncos will take time on Friday afternoon at 1:30 to honor Jack Vredevelt and the Vredevelt Family for their long-standing support of Bronco Tennis. Jack and Caryolyn Vredevelt and their daughters made a contribution to the program toward new umpire chairs and setting up an endowment to benefeit the program, assistant coaches and student-athletes. 

Vredevelt played at Western Michigan from 1952-55. He won four consecutive MAC Singles Championships and also won three MAC Doubles Championships. He later became the head coach of the WMU Men's Tennis team in 1974 and racked up 348 victories before retiring in 1996. He coached the Broncos to a MAC Championship in 1981 and was later inducted into the WMU Athletics Hall of fame in 1991. 

The MAC honors Vredevelt's legacy every year with the Jack Vredevelt Sportsmanship Award, given to a men's tennis senior who exemplifies outstanding sportsmanship throughout his college career.